The Effect of IDO on Neural Progenitor Cell Survival Under Oxygen Glucose Deprivation

Objective: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity plays an important role in many neurological disorders in the central nervous system, which may be associated with immunomodulation or anti-inflammatory activity. However, the action of IDO in the ischemic condition is still poorly understood. The purpose of the present study is to explore the expression and action of IDO in stem cell culture under oxygen and glucose deprivation.

Methods: Neural progenitor cells were obtained from the human embryonic stem cell line BG01. These cells underwent oxygen and glucose deprivation. We examined the IDO expression at 3 and 8 h of oxygen and glucose deprivation and then examined neuronal progenitor cell viability in the normal and oxygen and glucose deprivation condition using the [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay. In addition, we studied the effect of IDO inhibition and the expression of TNF-α, IGF-1, VEGF, IL-6, FGFβ, TGFβ, EGF, and Leptin to explore the mechanism of IDO under the oxygen and glucose deprivation.

Results: IDO expression in neural progenitor cells increased under oxygen and glucose deprivation, which is closely associated with cell death (p < 0.05). Inhibiting IDO did not affect cell survival in normal neural progenitor cells. However, inhibiting IDO could attenuate cell viability under oxygen and glucose deprivation (p < 0.05). Further study demonstrated that IDO expression was closely associated to the growth factor’s leptin expression.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that an increase of IDO under oxygen and glucose deprivation was associated with cell death, suggesting that inhibiting IDO could be a target for neuroprotection.